Improvement in spindle-steps



UNITED STATES PATENT Qrrion.

BARTON n. JENKS, or eamaseune, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT m SPlNDLE-STEPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 146,184, dated January 6,1874 application filed September .12, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BARTON H. JENKs, of Bridesburg, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oiling Devices of Steps for Spindles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a part of a well-known spindle-step rail, step, and spindle, with my improved oiling device applied' to the spindle-step. Fig. 2 is a section of the same in the line as 00 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and I are elevations of the spindle step, showing front and side views; Fig. 5 is a top view of the movable ring which opens and closes the oil-passage of the step.

The invention which I have made is to shoulder the step by reducing its diameter near its top, and, just above the shoulder thus formed, bore an oil-passage through the step, so as to form a communication with the ordinary bore of the step, and then to slip a narrow ring- "alve down over the reduced perforated portion of the step, so that it closes the said oilpassage, and find its seat upon the shoulder, and, when necessary, can be moved, so as to open the passage for the introduction of lubricating material. By this invention the lower end of the spindle can be applied in ordinary steps, so as to fit snugly and truly at the extreme upper end of the step, and all necessity of using a sliding cap above the end of the step, for the purpose of admitting and confining the lubricating material, is obviated.

The objection to a sliding cover, as heretofore used, is, the cover is necessarily fitted snug enough to prevent the escape of lubricating material, and to prevent the entrance of cotton waste and other flying substances about the spinning-frame, and, being thus snugly fitted, the cover at times revolves with the spindle, and causes serious trouble in the delicate operation of the spinning machinery above it; and, besides this, the cap or cover must be lifted entirely above the step.

The advantage of my plan is that the ringvalve is entirely isolated from the spindle, and therefore can never interfere with or retard its revolution. The ring-valve has its seat upon the shoulder of the step, and is inno manner affected by any part of the spinning-frame. This valve fits snugly around the reduced part of the step, and may be so applied as to remain, of itself, by frictional contact, up above the oilpassage when adjusted for the introduction of the oil into the step. The shoulder of the step also serves as a rest for the nose of the oil-can, and waste of oil is thus avoided; and, withal, the cost of the attachment is very slight, and it may be applied to all steps now in use, if made similar to the pattern represented.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same With reference to the drawings.

A is an ordinary step, to be fastened in an ordinary rail, 13, in the manner shown, so as to be raised andlowered by a spiral slot, a, and

set-screw b, or in any other known approved manner. This step, as usual, is bored or boxed, as at d, and counterbored, as at c, to receive into it the two variant diameters e f of an ordinary spindle, g. That part of the spindle which is of the smallest diameter is of a length sufficiently great to keep that part which is of a larger diameter elevated above the base of the counter-bore, and thus form an oil-chamber, h,

in the step below the shoulder s, which isformed on the spindle between the larger and smaller diameters of the spindle. Just a little distance above the base of the counter-bore of the step the step is reduced in diameter, and a shoulder or seat, ifsthereby formed, and just above this shoulder a passage, j, is bored through the reduced portion, at right angles, or nearly so, with the counter-bore of the spindle, and this passage intersects and communicates with said counter-bore, as shown in Fig. 2. Around the reduced portion, and upon the shoulder c, a ring-valve, k, is fitted so. as to slide up and down. This valve, when down on the seat, closes the passage j, and, when raised a short distance off this seat, leaves the passage open for the introduction of lubricating.material.

The base of the passage may be inclined downward toward the base of the spindle, and it may be concave, so as to conduct oil more readily into the step. The passage may be oblong, as shown, or circular, or of any other suitable form.

It might be desirable, in some cases, to make a hole or passage through the ring-valve 7r, corresponding to the oil-passage and to open and close the passage of the step by turning the ring upon its seat in such a manner as to cause the hole or passage of the ring to register with the passage of the step when oil is to be introduced, and not to register when the step has been oiled. Under this construction. the rin valve would not require to be moved up from its seat in order to effect the oiling.

I am aware of the Letters Patent of George Draper, No.127,159, granted May 28,1872, and therefore I do not claim a short tube or cover which fits upon a shoulder of the step and 011- eompasses the lower end of a tubular or capping bolster, and is combined with a spindle which does not fit snugly to the bore of the step, and with an oil-passage through the step ;v

nor do I claim a tube or cover which, if the lower end of the bolster did not extend within it and fit tight enough to its interior surface to prevent the escape oflubricating material, such material would fly out and be wasted but WVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The spindle-step A, constructed with its bore 0 to fit snugly the larger diameter 6 of the spindle, and with the ring-valve 7c fitted down upon its shoulder '1 and snugly against the circu1nference of the reduced upper part of the spindle-step, whereby both the spindle and the bolster are isolated from the step, as set forth. BARTON H. JENKS. \Vitnesses:

E. E. J ONES, WV. 0. ADAMS. 

